Underwater, overwater, home

Hello Hongi blog followers,

Three months of planes, cars, buses, farms, villages, hostels, pastoral settings, bustling cities, inside jokes, and constant wearing of flannel have come to an end. Team Hongi is home. The last week of our odyssey found us in Port Douglas, a rather quaint vacation spot about 60 kilometers from Cairns, the coastal access point for the Great Barrier Reef. Our dive hub. After lugging around dive texts and spending an impressive number of hours submerged in a swimming pool, everyone made it out to the reef and completed their open water certification.

Prior to leaving for Port Douglas, the group shared a tearful 4am goodbye with Catherine, who left a few days early to attend orientation at USC (Good Luck Catherine!). What started as a group of 11 was, in the end, whittled down to a mere seven. We could all even fit into a single taxi! We returned to Cairns on the 6th and consumed a brain jarring quantity of energy drinks, to help aid in the effort of staying up all night to catch the airport taxi at 4am. Our last hours together officially as a group were spent sharing our admiration and respect for one another, as well as remembering aloud all of the funny and memorable moments from the past three months. At 4 the group said goodbye to Stefan and took off for a marathon travel journey back to LAX, and then on to their respective home states and cities and, finally, families and friends (ie you folks, the readers).

It was a glorious time, team ramrod, and i will miss you all. Best of luck in the future.

Stefan.

Good Bye Fanz

What a trip! A few shout outs too our whole group for either getting Certified to open water dive *Becca C. Becca O. Sarah, Jordin, Shelby, Coco, Maxx* and to Andy for getting his Advance, Suz for continuing her diving! And Matt getting to snorkel the reef!

As our trip comes to a close we all wanted to think back about some of our favorite parts of our 3 month long adventure

Sarah: Marama organics with Graham and Giselle. Our stay there was fun filled, educational and purposeful

CoCo: I loved our neon CVA vests and the OPC wetsuits, also the time we spent in them, even if some of it was type three fun!

Jordin: I loved all the people we met on this trip. We got really lucky with all of them. Without them my trip would not be what it was. Thank you Kali, Graham, Juliane, Giselle, Steve, Ethan, Patrick, and everyone else who made our trip what it was.

Becca C: ill never forget dance parties and kava ceremonies in Nananu. I will always remember my Fijian family and friends and hope to return some day. ROLLER BLADING AND POWER WALKING FOR LIFE!

Becca O: POWER WALKING AND ROLLER BLADING 4 LYFE DOG!

Matt: I will never forget fulfilling my goal of this trip of seeing and touching Koala’s. Also making some money playing my guitar on the streets of Cairns.

Shelby: ill never forget our adventures in Nananu and playing volleyball with all those strong Fijian men. Kava dance parties. New Zealand home stays. The OPC zip lining and caving and abseiling. I had a blast shearing sheep and painting the woolshed with Graham and Giselle. And I’m totally stoked on being SCUBA certified! The people we’ve met are unforgettable. Kali, Graham, Julian, Steve, Ethan; all of them have made this trip a bit more memorable.

Andy: fresh coconut milk from Fijian palms. Mangoes, guavas, waterfalls and crystalline springs. So many beautiful botanical gardens! Outback sunsets, early morning yoga. Sheep herding, cave exploring and breathing underwater. Chess playin, Frisbee throwin, balderdash and bufords of fun!

Suzanne: oh what a trip. So many memories. Dancing our buts off with all the Nananu folk, cooking and eating yummy meals at Graham’s. Exploring the caves at the OPC and laughing hysterically when reflecting on our sleepless camping adventure. Milford sound, yoga, wombats( need I say more) WOMBAT WARRIORS! Along with wombat jobby of course. Sleeping under the stars, grooving the grape with steve and diving WOW! I will forever remember each one of you and our crazy adventures. XoXo

Maxx: What a trip. When I think of my favorite moments on this trip I think of OPC adventures doing things I never would have thought I could do (climbing threw sewers, jumping high ropes, and adventuring in caves!) I will never forget any of the amazing people that I have met throughout this trip and the things I have learnt I will take with me for the rest of my life. Thank you all so much.

Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible

and helped us along the way

Groovy Grape and Beyond!

Hello again family and friends!

We have just arrived in Cairns, Australia. Which means a few things; we have safely made it out of the Outback and from the treacherous beach community of Noosa! During our Outback adventure with the Groovy Grape, we spent seven days and six nights traveling to many of the well known destinations such as Uluru, Coober Pedy, Kings Canyon, The Garden of Eden, and several other beautiful sights. During our stop at Uluru our group did the walk around the base, and as a group decided to respect the Aboriginal peoples culture and not do the walk up the side. During our stay in Coober Pedy we had a tour of an old opal mine and enjoyed a nights stay inside underground caves! Within the city almost the entire population lives underground in cave homes. The reason for this is that they stay at a constant 25 degrees Celsius year round while the land above them is extremely hot. On our last day with Groovy Grape tours, we did a canyon hike through Kings Canyon to the Garden of Eden. It was remarkable having hiked through such hot dry land and stumbling onto a small valley of green plans and pools of water. As a group we stopped here and took a dip. After Groovy Grape we jumped on our last flight together as a full group to Brisbane. After a two hour bus ride we reached our beach destination of Noosa and began our three day stay in a very relaxing community. Some of the activities we got involved in during our stay consists of Becca O. teaching Sarah and Matt how to surf and me*Maxx* watching and passing on helpful words. Matt got up on some waves on his first day surfing! Other members of our group had fun lounging on the beach and doing morning yoga. After Noosa we embarked on our 35 hour train trip from Noosa to Cairns. Even though our trip is coming to an end, we are all looking forward to a week of scuba diving classes, diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and many more great adventures to come!

~Maxx F.

Back from the Bush

We our back from the Bush!
Hello family and friends its your friendly Bilbo bloggins here again to tell you about our adventures in wombat land!
Our merry group got to spend five fun filled, and at times quite goofy, days at the Brookfield Conservation Park. We joined a group called the CVA or Conservation Volunteers of Australia who took us out to lovely Brookfield to help find and record wombat warrens.
A warren is basically a giant mole hill dug out by wombats. For those of you who do not know what a wombat is, it is basically a giant hamster that lives in the brush of Australia.
Our days at Brookfiled consisted of the group splitting up during the day and tramping through the bush for several kilometers looking for the warrens in the ground. As i am sure you can imagine this activity would get very boring very fast so we came up with all kinds of games and dances to do to keep us having fun.
Suzanne made up a entertaining wombat dance for us all to do and a beautiful goat dance as well.
Becca.O came up with a great idea to help us when we got a bit frustrated. She had us come up with what our own ideal personal raincoat would be so that when we got frustrated all we had to do was "put on"our raincoats and have the frustrations just slide off us. This came in handy when the GPS systems were not working as well as it could have been and as a result we all got a little lost in the bush. Along with our new "raincoats" Sarah was there to help us all keep our heads.
Becca.C helped us pass the time by singing songs by Death Cab for Cutie.
In the late afternoon the group met back up at base camp. We all took turns every night making dinner for the whole group. Coco and Becca made us all a delicious spaghetti one of the nights followed by some fun rounds of balderdash thanks to Maxx.
Matt kept us entertained at night strumming on his guitar. Shelby made sure none of us died in the night by being our constant spider lookout. This was put to the test when she found a rather large red back spider in the bathroom, which we later discovered is quite poisonious and can make you very sick.
Andy helped us relax and laugh after a particularly stressful day of warren hunting by attempting to learn to Irish Step Dance taught to him by me (Jordin). On our last day with CVA we all got up extra early, part from CoCo and Andy who had to go into town early to make sure CoCo's ear was not infected (Don't worry all! her ear is just fine and will be able to join us all in scuba diving later in the trip), and the rest of us were in for a treat as we headed off to visit some wombats up close and personal. We went to the home of a woman named Brigit who ran a wombat rescue out of her home. Their work is all nonprofit and to be honest its quite amazing. They currently have fourteen wombats, one dog, one cat, two owls, one echidna, and two opossums all living with them. These woman even shared their bed with these forteen wombats!The whole group took turns cuddling up with these adorable marsupials and holding them in our laps. It was quite an amazing experience that not many get to enjoy.
Now the group is reunited back at Adelaide before we head out again on our next big adventure in the Outback. So keep your eyes peeled for our next blog and keep your fingers crossed as we trek across the big Outback!
Lots of love from us all over here in backwards land!
Jordin and Becca.C

G'day Mates!

We're here to deliver you a little ditty
From this wonderful place called Adelaide
It's Australia's fifth largest city
Near the world's largest uranium reserve, where much of Oz's money gets made!

It's hard to imagine that four days ago
We were at Govinda Valley exploring our spiritual sides
At first bummed to not be studying Buddhism,
We soon found ourselves pleasantly surprised

To learn how to access our kundalini energy
From Patrick, our compassionate yoga teacher
We even got to analyze our astrological charts
From Andre, our very own vedic philosophy preacher

From Matt's chart, he received confirmation
That he'd pursue a career in the film biz
While Maxx became pretty adventurous
Tasting all sorts of new vegetarian dishes

Sarah and Coco really got into the yoga
Contorting themselves in all sorts of poses
They even enjoyed the breathing exercises
Letting the prana flow in and out of their noses

Shelby sure did love all the yoga
But was definitely the most thrilled
When she discovered a rugby ball
And got to play with it in the Aussie hills

The two Beccas rose before the sun
To check out the visiting Vedanta clan
They sat and listened to Sanskrit chanting
Language barrier and all, they maintained a good attention span

We even got to celebrate Jordin's birthday
At our beautifully peaceful retreat
The group and the generous staff there
Got together and made her a delicious treat

One day after class with Andre
Patrick drove us all to the zoo
Where we finally got to see it,
Our very first kangaroo!

Govinda Valley came in perfect time
As our nomadism was starting to take a toll
We were feeling a bit stressed out and tired
But now we're relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready to roll

Back to Sydney we then went
To explore a world famous city
Botanical gardens, opera house, harbour cruise
That we had to leave so soon was really a pity

We are only hours away
From our intense outback excursion
Where we work to save Australia's wombats
What a cool conservational immersion

You may or may not have realized
That there's been a bit of a swap
Your previous rhymers have been replaced
Those originals, of course we can't top!

Becca.C and Jordin

We've finally made it to the land Down Under,
Which means we got through free travel without too many a blunder.
Tekapo, site of the world's best stars,
Was covered in clouds, which made viewing them hard.
At Mount Cook the next day the weather was nice,
We hiked near a glacier and tried to touch the ice!
To Wanaka next our caravan drove,
And into our hostel's hot tub we dove.
At the Rob Roy Glacier rain once again foiled our plans,
But rainforests and rivers were seen by our clan.
Then back in the van to Queenstown we went,
Where "Dennis" was returned with only one dent!
The next day we hopped on a bus to Milford Sound,
where on top of our cruise ship the waterfalls did pound.
While in the fjords the mountains surrounded,
and by the foggy views we were astounded.
Yesterday we jetted to the land of OZ,
and almost missed our flight--april fools was the cause.
And this morning one of ranks joins the Crimson Class
and next fall through the Harvard gates she will pass.
Of her all of us couldn't be prouder
but we would've died last night had our hostel been louder.
Today to govinda we take the train at two,
And after a week of yoga, we'll report back to you.

Ode to Lyttelton

There once was a woman in Lyttelton

Named Dee whose house we are livin' in

Tonight she's having a barbie for us all

and since she's in charge we know we'll have a ball.

Dee has a neighbor named Sue,

Who's hosting some of our crew,

And also a bestie named Ann,

Who's housing the rest of our clan.

Lyttelton harbor is a picturesque place

located near an old volcano's base.

Here we work with fences and dirt,

to restore the land is our main effort.

On Monday we went to help out Yvette,

And Maxx and Gavin made a fence for her piggy pet (s).

She taught us all about Maori culture and tradition,

And with Jordin's help cooked us lunch in her kitchen.

On Tuesday we hiked to a house on the hill,

Where Peter showed us which invasive plants we could kill.

Armed with deadly blue goo and clippers alike,

We made the land much more pleasurable to hike.

While we hacked away at weeds galore,

stinging nettles attacked and gave Matt a sore.

On Wednesday we went out to Godley Head,

and through this old army post we were led.

We planted some grass and ripped out a fence,

Andy and Shelby made sure a pinecone war commence (d).

Come Thursday to Godley Head we went back,

and the Beccas, in style, moved brush into stacks.

Decked out in weird hats, they were quite a sight,

wearing 3-D glasses to block out sunlight.

Suze, meanwhile, remained reliable and funny,

though the outlook on her parasites isn't so sunny.

And today, it's Friday (but thursday for you)

We're having fun in Christchurch, but we miss you too.

Tomorrow we leave on our free travel trip,

to Mt. Cook and Wanaka after a Tekapo dip.

With Andy and Suze at the wheel of our van,

We'll end up in Queenstown, or at least that's the plan.

So now you've reached the end of this blog,

and we've run out of rhymes, our minds are afog.

And if we make it through free travel without going loco,

there will be an update next week from Sarah and Coco.

OPC

Hello again everybody!
We just got into Christchurch after a week at the Outdoor Pursuits Center and a full day of travel. I know we're all glad to finally be off that six hour bus and into Christchurch. Our time at the OPC was sweet as though! I know many of us arrived at the OPC with some less than enthusiastic attitudes, but our leader, Julian, changed those attitudes right quick. Between abseiling (rappelling), the high ropes course, caving at night, and a seriously cold overnight, I think our time there was something we'll never forget. On our overnight, the weather was all great until Wednesday night when we all basically froze. It got down in the negatives and none of us were ready for that one. Overall though our time at the OPC was an awesome experience. Friday we headed out back to Wellington for the night, but our hostel reservation got slightly messed up so we had to scrounge up a place to stay for the night. Everything worked out fine in the end though. Saturday was spent completely in travel. A huge two hour ferry ride and then a six hour bus ride to get to Christchurch. Starting tomorrow we're with our Kiwi families for a week long home stay here. I know we're all very excited to be staying with our families and are looking forward to our free travel plans next week.

Love to all our families and friends!
- Shelby

Check out our photobucket for new photos!

http://s1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/FANZ_2010/

Wellington

Hello again everyone!
As we say our goodbyes to Graham and Giselle and all of Marama Organics, we look forward to Wellington and Sir Edmund Hilary's Outdoor Pursuits Center. We'll definitely all miss the fun we had on the farm. Flying out of Dunedin, Wellington was having a spot of rough weather. Despite the weather, I know many of us were more than happy to be back in the city. Friday and Saturday nights in Wellington are crazy. Lots of things going on and the city is awake all night. Saturday, being our only full day in this city, was full of activity. Most of us made it over to the Te Papa museum at some point during the day. Matt organized a sweet tour for anyone who wanted to go. Becca C, Jordin, Matt, and I ended up having a blast re-enacting scenes from The Lord if the Rings for a few hours, just your average day being a Hobbit. Tody we're off to the Outdoor Pursuits Center (OPC) for a week of ropes courses and rock climbing and hiking and who knows what else is in store for us! Wish us luck as we take on the challenging activities at the OPC!

Game on.

- Shelby

Check Out Pictures on Photobucket!

http://s1044.photobucket.com/albums/b442/FANZ_2010/

Marama Organics!

Hello everyone! The group arrived safely in Dunedin last Thursday after a very early morning flight out of Auckland. It was a bittersweet goodbye as we said farewell to a fantastic city as well as two of our friends, Ethan and Kyle. We hope they are doing well! After a few fun shopping stops and a lunch in Dunedin, we snagged a bus out to Marama. The bus actually dropped us off at some remote intersection. From there, Graham and Sonya picked us up in a couple trucks to take as to our home for the week, Marama Organics. All week we've been doing various jobs from weighing thousands of sheep to painting an entire wool shed! It's been very exciting. We've been pairing up into teams cooking and clean up the meals everyday. Gavin and Jordin are always eager to work with the sheep. Becca C. spent some time being lifted on a tractor to paint the high parts onthe wool shed. Matt and Maxx have become quite good painters during our time here. Sarah has been letting us eat her amazing cooking. Coco and Becca O always seem to be finding new things for us to do on our free travel (which is coming up in a few weeks here). Everyone is working hard and having tons of fun while we're at it!

Love to all of our families!

-Shelby

Sail City

The work is finished! The group pulled together and worked hard until the much needed pathway was finished. At completion there was a small gathering where the minister of the local church came, a nice conclusion to a fun project. In the following days we did various activities including horseback rides to the nearby waterfall which we could slide down and jump off, a tour of the Fiji water plant, a trip to the beach, and time to bond with out host families. Overall the things that we experiences and the knowledge we gained about their way of life was priceless.
The final nights were filled with dance parties, performances, and lots of food. The village kids prepared various performances for us each night and in the end we shared one of our own with them. The final day was one of mixed feeling. Sad to leave but excited to be continuing on our travels to New Zealand. After a slue of goodbye kisses from our sad host mothers and waiting for a van in Fiji time we were finally back on the road. The first stop that we made was the Mc Donalds in Nadi, a tasty little reminder of what we all left behind in the states. Then we were off to the airport for another length of goodbyes and photographs taking in the last moments of Fiji with the villagers that accompanied us to the airport. With spirits high and not knowing what to expect we were off the ground in Fiji, in a very luxurious plane, and well on our way to New Zealand.
Auckland, I don't even know where to start from the moment we all touched down here knew that this was going to be a great city. A big change of pace after sleeping in mosquito nets and washing clothing in the local river and taking bucket showers. getting in late we went straight to our hostel and after a pleasant and comfortable night we were all ready to get out and go explore the city of sails. Some people raced of to find the nearest fast food, some people raced off to find the nearest TV and catch the USA versus Canada game, but one thing was the same, everyone loved this city and after a day packed full of exploring and immersing in a new culture we can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Again, Gavin & Becca

Taki-Taki

Hello again guys, gavin and becca here blogging from tavua. We've been away from internet and telephones for a while in the beautiful classical fijian village of nananu. Working under the hot sun and getting to know the amazing generous people of the village while also getting alot of down time in the shade getting to know each other better, this down time is called what the people like to call "fiji time".
so this is what we have been up to...
After a long and interesting system of public buses and sitting in the back of trucks we finally arrived to the village. we were welcomed by a colorful party of children dancing laughing and singing and host mothers embracing us and giving us fat sloppy kisses even though they never meet us before, just a small example of how warm and welcoming everyone here is. The group was split up into pairs and after the welcoming ceremony had come to a close we were handed over to our host mothers and quickly swept away to meet our host families. The group was slightly skeptical about the living conditions at first but it was all put to rest when we found out there was running water and showers and the food was certainly nothing short of incredible.
We have been treated to four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, tea, and diner. Breakfast is a combination of kinds of cakes, pancake like things cut in the shape lightning bolt, and fresh fruits. The favorites are usually the rainbow cake (multi-colored cake with frosting on top) and bananas (in which we put penut better that we bought in town).These are the same kinds of food also found at tea time. We also try the mystery meat of the day at lunch and dinner loaded with their version of ketchup (which we place on everything) Oh but the highlight of one of our days is when a fan was installed by Collie in the dining room, its not exactly winter over here it reached a peak of 103 one day.
During the day we work on building a cement road that goes through the village. We collect small rocks from outside the village, mix cement, dig some dirt, or a large amount of time napping in the shade. After our work is done we go soak ourselves in the river trying to get cool. One day we were rewarded for our hard work and the villagers took us up to a waterfall right out of national geographic.
The people here are very spirited, the nights are never quiet. On special accosions they will offer us an ancient Fijian tradition of kava. It was interesting to gain insight into their culture through this age old tradition. During this time music is a large part, they listen to Chris Brown and other popular American artists along with a lot of native island music, while they dance to the early hours of the morning.

Till next time....

Gavin and Becca

**BULA**

A warm hello from FIJI!!! With new Fijian words flowing from our mouths and sweat dripping down our faces from the beautiful sunny days, we are finally all together as a group. After our long yet exciting journey, we reached Nadi at 5:30 am on Feb 13th. Since then,we have been busy learning important information for our semester, scavenger hunting around the city, buying sulus (a sarong that will soon be our main attire in the village), watching rugby while eating breakfast, learning about "fiji time", swimming in the pristine postcard perfect beach water but most importantly, beginning to get to know each other. Tomorrow we head to Nananu for our first homestay, where we will be for almost 2 weeks. (we will be out of touch during this time but will write as soon as we can).
Sending lots of love**

Moce mada (bye for now)

Andy & Suzanne

It's some sort of miracle

It's some sort of miracle that we managed to get everyone, from the East Coast, from the West Coast ... well ... everyone! Despite cancellations from weather in NH, MA, and NY, we pulled some sort of rabbit out of our hat and sure enough everyone is together, safe and sound, in LAX.

Thank you all (especially the East coasters) for your perseverance and communication as we navigated one heck of a last 48 hours.

Stay tuned and check back often for more group posts,

Yours in spirit,

Ethan Knight

Executive Director

FANZ Spring 2010!

Dear FANZtastic crew 2010 Kyle, Rebecca, Ethan, Jordin, Shelby, Maxx, Cordelia, Sarah, Rebecca, Mathew, and Gavin....

We hope you have all been enjoying your winter breaks and are getting excited for an amazing semester down South! We are super pumped to meet you all and begin our adventures together! Expect a call from one of us in the next few days to introduce ourselves and answer any last minute questions you might have. Guess what...we fly in 6 days!

This is our travel blog where all of our friends and family back home can keep up with our adventures. Each week one of you will be our official "blogger" and will get to write our travel tales for our dedicated followers around the globe. We encourage you to peruse past blogs to get an idea of what they might look like. Also, please inform your family and friends of this site, and show them how to log in, so they will know what an amazing and authentic experience we are having. In addition to gaining responsibility of the blog, there will be other roles assigned and rotated every 1-2 weeks to help you take ownership of our trip and get the most out of the semester. Contemplate which one you are most enthusiastic about taking charge of for the first couple weeks of the semester...

Cribs: Organizes any sleeping accommodations we need. ie: hotel/hostel/camping

Hotwheels: Coordinates our transportation to and from cities, activities, hostels, etc.

Captain: The leader of our team who creates the overall vision for the following week, makes sure we are getting places on time, staying within budget, and ensuring that others are accomplishing their roles.

Regulator: One of the most important roles, the regulator makes sure we are leaving places cleaner than when we arrived, organizes games and other activities during down time, coordinates displays of our gratitude to communities we visit like thank you letters, gifts, performances, etc.

Clark Kent: News reporter for the group, Clark Kent helps us stay up to date on local, national and global news by giving brief presentations on current happenings.

Bilbo Bloggins: Blogs our adventures for friends and family back home.

Fun Finder: Researches and presents to the group potential activities and fun stuff to do during free time.

National Geographic: Researches and keeps the group informed about people, place, culture, language, cuisine, etc. of the unique cultures and communities we visit.

We are so excited to head to summer time in the South Pacific and hope you are too! Be sure and enjoy all of your favorite things at home before we head into the unknown :)

Peace.

Suz & Andy

A Scuba Finale

Our last few days and the resulting last blog, oh how far we have come...
On the heels of Meghan's last post, we had just finished the scuba classes and tests in Cairns, and our next (and ultimate) adventure was on a "liveaboard" boat, scouring the depths of the Great Barrier Reef! Following a two hour shuttle boat ride out to the liveaboard, we got settled into our rooms, had a quick lunch, and were straight into our scuba gear for our first afternoon dive. Conditions were sunny, the water was relatively calm, and we were positioned over one of the best dive spots on the GBR, and surely in the world, Milln Reef. Split into two groups of six, and of course buddied up, we had a quick snorkel around the side of the boat to an anchored rope at the front to guide us to the ocean floor during our first descent. On the surface of the water, our senses were flooded with the hum of the boat, the ever-present lap of waves, and constant bobbing in the currents. However, once underneath the chaotic exterior, we were enveloped by a blue serenity. I was personally nervous about being out in open water, yet my mind was changed completely once floating peacefully, weightless through a calmer world. This was different from the snorkeling-like nightmare I had predicted. In fact, within seconds of submerging, we spotted a white tip reef shark just 10 meters in the distance. Somewhat like a fox encountered in his own forest habitat, the shark gliding coolly away. Conquer shark phobia, Check! From then on we went through our routine test of removing and collecting our regulators (mouthpieces), filling up and clearing our masks, and trying to calm ourselves in order to steady our breathing. Upon returning to the surface, we all agreed the dive was a resounding success.
A couple hours later we embarked on our second dive, which consisted of descending free of a guide rope, running through more tests like shared breathing, and gear removal. We also made more wildlife spots like a giant clam, Titan Trigger fish, and Sea Cucumber.
Exhausted, and full from a good dinner, many of us called it a night and relaxed up on the sundeck, while a brave few (James, Katie V, Connor, Joseph, Adam, and Heather) chose to go out on a night dive. Along with miles of courage they brought underwater flashlights with them to not only guide their way but to also direct a gang of red bass to their evening meal (illuminated smaller fish).
Waking early the next morning (5:30!), we all engaged in dives at six in the morning and again at eight. On these we explored the reef further and observed some more awesome marine animals like sea turtles and a moray eel! Additionally, on the latter of these dives we had a camera man come along to film us perform underwater stunts and show messages we had written beforehand to our families. Later in the day we all got to watch it a have a good laugh.
We were finally awarded our certified Open Water Diver cards by our Instructor, Ethan, and some chose to do a final, unsupervised, dive in a new spot. Bravo! Ready for dry land, we boarded the shuttle boat back to Cairns certified diving Extraordinaires. Getting back to the city in the early evening, we got our own dinners and ended the day with one of our final group meetings back at the Caravella hostel. Sad!
Our last day as a group we spent lounging on a nearby beach and tying up loose ends around Cairns, culminating with a group dinner out. Those of us flying back to the States will make for the airport at 2 am tonight, eager to reunite with our loved ones.

Fanzcarpediem, we have loved ye
As for everyone in this wonderful group, its a definite "see you later"

-Gordie

Cairns!

BULA(bringing that one back)family and friends!

Since our last post,we have finished up a relaxing week at the Chenrezig Buddhist Retreat Center, where we learned about the various teachings and traditions of the Buddhist religion. Once we ascended "the hill", a(very steep)hill which set the boundaries of the center, we were asked to adhere to a set of Buddhist guidelines:
1. Avoid killing (all creatures - including ants)
2. Avoid stealing (that which was not specifically given to you)
3. Avoid lying
4. No sexual contact(including hugs)
5. No intoxicants
Though seemingly obvious social guidelines, the rules were surprisingly hard to follow - the mosquitos taunted us as if they knew they would not be swatted.

Daily activites at the center included gardening, maufacturing miniature "stupas"(holy artifacts meant to be a physical manisfestation of Buddha's mind), and yoga with our incredibly serene and patient hungarian teacher Tiag. Our vegetarian (eek!) meals at Chenrezig consisted of a light breakfast and dinner, with a filling and delicious lunch. At night we laid relatively low, watching Buddhist themed films, reading, and once attempting to follow an advanced lesson in Buddhist theory,taught by the centers "geshe", an enlightened Tibetan monk. We also partook in a two day seminar focused on creating better relationships, inspired by and following Buddhist teachings. Through meditations and examples from her own life, our teacher Alyse showed to us how to eliminate anger and destructive feelings from our lives, asking us to take and value people for who they are, rather than who we expect them to be.

After our relaxing stay at Chenrezig, wedeparted for Cairns on our 30 hour (yes, you read correctly) train ride. Staying on an overnight train has been a dream of mine, ever since I saw "Some like it Hot". I was pumped, and the ride did not dissapoint. Though mildly claustrophobic at first, our triple-sleeper train compartments proved cozy habitats, accomodated with a bench that folded into three bunk beds, a sink, and a trash can. Train activities included reading, card games, college essay writing, and filling the tiny rooms way past their capacity for rediculous hangout sessions. The rare half hour stops were almost comical, our group bursting out of the train doors, spilling out onto the train platform to stretch, walk, do pushups, and dance to Michael Jackson tunes. We made it though our cabin fever however, to arrive safe and sound in Cairns, our final destination of the trip.

Our first day in Cairns was spent milling around the boardwalks of this seaside city, peering into the various shops and restaurants. The following two days were spent in "scuba school", where, you will be happy to learn, we all passed our written and underwater tests. Tomorrow we ship off on a scuba overnight aboard the Cairns Diving Center's dive ship, to explore the Great Barrier Reef, and earn our "open water dive" certifications.

Looking forward to a great last week, but also to seeing our families once again!
Cheers to the last leg of our incredible trip!
-Meghan

Beach time at Noosa

Hey everyone!
We arrived in Noosa four days ago. The first day we were all just getting settled in from a long week at groovy grape. Once we got to the beach we were all just relieved to have some down time to relax from two long weeks of waking up early. The second day we got a chance to sleep in, but most of us woke up around 8 because everyone was so excited to go check out the beach and swim in the amazingly warm ocean water. We spent most of the day laying on the beach sun tanning and walking around the little town. The weather was perfect for swimming in the ocean, it was a awesome way to cool down from the hot weather. Some of us got a little sunburned but not too bad. That night we had pizza for dinner, which was amazing and by the end of the day everyone was starving. The hostil we are staying at is the YHA and its around a 3 minute walk to the beach. The hostil looks like a little beach house. Its blue and kind of old fashioned. At night they light the Tiki torches and they have colored Christmas lights around the hostil. The third day a bunch of us took surfing lessons and had an amazing time. Those that did it said the instructor was great and was willing to take them out later in the day for a second time for free! Lets just say they jumped at that opprotunity. After spending some more time at the beach some of us went into town to the internet cafe to upload pictures onto facebook and we all ended up around the computer laughing at all the pictures we have taken over the course of the trip. Today we are heading to Chen Rezig, the Buddhist monastery, for a week of yoga, meditation, and Steve Irwin's zoo!

Some information we learned about Chenrezig was that the land was first purchased in the 70's as an overgrazed pasture and was completely barren. Today, thanks to the many monks that live there, it is a lush rainforest, covered in trees and exotic plants. (Thanks Brandon, our trivia master).

Cheers,
Katie B.

P.S.
We will upload photos in a week, sorry for the delay!

Our Groovy/ Grapey Adventure

Hey FANZ families, and fans, this is Connor trying to update you on our groovy recent trip happenings. So our first day of the Groovy Grape, we woke up early, and met our wacky driver Robert, a purple haired Jack Sparrow look alike. We also met 3 Germans, Hanz, Franz, and Ahnold, just kidding, Henrick, Sabina & Yens, 2 Swedish girls, Jo and Jenny, and 2 Scottish girls, Hannah and Vikki. Each group was a team, we, of course, TEAM America, Team Germany, etc. And then we were off. The first day we stopped at a WWII memorial for lunch, and then took a short hike to look at some Aboriginal cave art. After that we headed to our lodging for the night, a refurbished infirmary that was originally used for tuberculosis. We had an amazing barbecue; kangaroo, beef, sausages, salads, and the veggie kebabs for Heather.
Next day, we woke up somewhat early, and took a hike on the main road, while some road bikes. Robert picked us up afterwards, and we stopped at a hostel that had a shady pool and we made our lunch for the day. We drove some more into the wild wild Outback and we arrived at our oasis in the desert, a famous bar with many driver's licenses, business cards, assorted women's underwears, that were along the walls. There was even a business card from someone at Fordham University in NYC! That night we made a huge bonfire out of old railroad ties, and slept under the stars in comfortable swags, I'll explain those later.

We woke up to the sun rising and flies on our faces, what a nice wake up. We then headed off to Cooper Pedy, a mining town that was widely known for it's opal mines. We went to the mining mueseum and saw the thrilling movie The Story of Opal, award winning to say the least. We toured through the mines, and then went to a kangaroo rescue, where we got to feed older kangaroos, and hold younger ones. That night we went to the famous pizza place, John's Pizza, where we were greeted with a barrage of pizza pies that filled the whole group up. Some headed off to the underground hotel and some went to our underground hostel built into the side of a mountain.

We woke up early the next day, 4:30 to be exact, ouch, and went up to a lookout point that Rob knew about to see the sunrise. We were in for a long drive, since we were headed to Uluru, formerly Ayer's Rock. We arrived in the afternoon after lunch on the road, and we quickly unpacked and hopped into the pool. That night we watched the sunset on Uluru, with cheese, crackers, carrots, and hummus. We slept another night under the stars.

Next morning was another early one, 4:45, to see the sunrise on one of the adjacent large pebbles. We hauled up coolers, and had pancakes, cereal, and coffee as the sun rose. After that we headed to our hike of the day, which was a 6k walk around the base of Uluru. We got up close and more personal with the rock later when Robert took us to some of the notable Aboriginal ceremonial spots. After the hike, we went back to the site, to prep it for the other Groovy Grape driver's birthday, who would be staying there that night as well. Then we went on a secret mission, to sneak into the local resort's pool. To say the least, no one was wounded in action and the mission was a great success, very NICE. That night, we had another huge barbecue, sung happy birthday to J.P., the other driver, and had a great time with our fellow Grapers. Before we fell asleep though, we hauled our sleeping gear, swags and sleeping bags, up to another lookout point to see the sunrise on Uluru.

The sun rose really early, some of us might not exactly remember, but it was a beautiful sight. We came back, ate breakfast, and set out for an 8k hike through a series of large rock formations, the most famous of which is Kata Tjuta. Robert informed us of how they formed, and the legends that were behind various areas of it. He also told us about the local plant and animal life that lived around our hiking trail.

We had an uneventful evening in Alice Springs last night. We rested up, got most of the dirt from the outback off our bods, and had a last group meal. Some of the group went out to a bar, Bojangles (to have gingerbeers of course) and some headed back to the hostel for an early night.

Tomorrow we head for the beach at Noosa!